Page 27 of The Perfect Crime

“Where is home?”Jessie asked.

“I live in the Hollywood Hills.”

“Marcus Vega lived there too,” she said.

“I know,” he replied.“he told me that before turned into a snak—before the deal fell apart.”

The fact that he couldn’t stop maligning Vega, even after his wife’s death, was lost on no one.

“So you know where he lives,” Jessie pointed out.

“Yeah, I know,” he conceded, “but I’ve never been there.”

“Not even a drive-by to stare daggers at the home of the man who screwed you over?”she wondered.

“Not even that.”

“Are you willing to give us access to the GPS data on your phone and car to verify that?”Ryan asked.

“I’m willing to give you the phone number for my lawyer,” Forrester said.“You can ask him for that stuff formally.”

“So you’re not willing to cooperate?”Jessie asked.

“Ihavebeen cooperating,” he told her, agitated, “but it looks like I need to protect myself too.”

“Let me ask you, Mr.Forrester,” she said, “do you still use the same criminal lawyer from your other incidents, or have you changed it up?”

At that, Forrester turned to face his window.Jessie wasn’t sure what he was planning and started to stand up in preparation of whatever came next.But before she could, Ryan gently put his hand on her forearm and shook his head.It took her a moment to understand why.

Forrester was inhaling and exhaling slowly.He appeared to be engaging in some deep breathing exercises in an attempt to remain calm.After several seconds of that, he spoke, still looking out the window.

“I didn’t have anything to do with Vega’s wife’s death,” he said firmly.“The GPS data will show you that.But you’ll have to go through the proper channels to see for sure.I don’t know if that means getting a subpoena or what.In the meantime, unless you plan to arrest me, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.I’ve got millions of dollars to make today.I’ve got to earn back what Vega cost me.”

Ryan gave Jessie a look that suggested he thought they were at a dead end, but she decided to take one more shot at egging Forrester into a mistake.

“You know,” she said quietly, “if you were really doing as well as you say, I would have figured you’d have a nicer workplace and more employees.It’s hard not to think renting this tiny office in a big, fancy tower is just a front to hide how poorly you’re actually doing.It feels a little like you’re a fake.”

Jessie saw his whole body tense up and she thought she might finally have pushed him to the breaking point.

“It feels a little like you’re a bitch,” he replied calmly, still not looking at her, “but I would never say that because I’m a gentleman.”

Now Ryan stood up and indicated that she should do the same.It was clear to him, as it was to her, that while Forrester might make disparaging remarks, he wasn’t going to implicate himself, at least not here and now.

“We’ll be in touch,” Ryan said.“In the meantime, don’t leave town.”

Jessie’s efforts to trip Forrester up had failed, but they had worked in another way, one that she didn’t love.As they left his office, her insides churned.She had a strong desire to turn back around, and body slam him into his window so hard that he crashed through onto the street twenty-six floors below.It required all of her self-control to keep walking.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Jessie was still nursing her anger well after they had returned to the station.

She was sitting on the couch in the research department, flipping through a list that Jamil had compiled of people who might have connections to Forrester and both victims.But she could feel Ryan’s eyes on her.She knew that he could sense her frustration, and he was clearly doing what he could to mitigate it.

“I think we should put a tail on Forrester,” he suggested, “just to be safe.We may not have anything on the guy yet, but if he turns out to be our killer and he does it again because we lost track of him, that would be inexcusable.”

“I’ll request a unit be posted outside his building,” Beth offered.

“That would be great,” Ryan said.

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